Tuesday, August 31, 2010

We are saddened by the loss of Bruce D. Ackerman, President and CEO of the Valley Economic Alliance, who passed away on August 26 after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Ackerman was a well loved civic leader and long time supporter of the Exploring Program. In 2007, Mr. Ackerman was the inaugural recipient of our Leaders of Character Award.

The Office of Congressman McKeon had come to me and requested some Eagle and Life Scouts to perform the Color Guard/Flag Ceremony at this event.

Cub Scouts are also requested to help plant the American flags on the grounds of the park as the names of the 2,976 veterans are called. This is a good way for the young Scouts to show their love of their country!

The venue is really close to our SCV Scout office.

I also need Scouts 15 years of age and older to help as volunteers (miscellaneous/traffic flow) for this day.

I will also like to request a couple of adult leaders to help me organize the volunteers for this event and be present on Sept. 11th as I am unable to be there - I am bringing a group of 800 guests to the Walking With Dinosaurs event at the Staples Center on the same day.

Please RSVP to jreyes98@aol.com if you are interested in helping out on this event.

I'm a Scouter from Northern Indiana, LaSalle Council. I have been in contact with an amazing 12 year old young man named Zach Bonner. You may have heard of him because he has had some national news media attention. Since December 25, 2009, Zach has been walking from the East Coast of Florida across the country to the West Coast to raise awareness of the plight of homeless and needy kids and to raise money to help them. He will have walked a total of 2,478 miles when he finishes his walk. He started The Little Red Wagon Foundation to tell his story and provide a way for people to help kids. You can find out more about Zach and his mission by checking out http://littleredwagonfoundation.com/ and you can check his progress at: http://zachtracker.com/. Zach plans to complete his walk on Tuesday, September 14th, at Santa Monica Pier in California. Zach is not a Scout, but his effort to help others in need is an inspiration and outstanding example for Scouts and everyone.

When I talked to Zach and told him I was a Scout leader, he suggested I could help out by contacting Scout units in the Santa Monica or Los Angeles area and tell them about what he's doing so they can meet him at Santa Monica Pier when he finishes his walk. Zach plans to prepare 1,000 backpacks to distribute to needy kids at the end of his walk, so he may need Scouts to help with that, and with some other things at Santa Monica Pier. I'm sorry I don't have more specific information right now. I don't think Zach's plans for the end of his walk are complete yet. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to email me at dennis@michiana.org. You will also be able to find out more about Zach's plans by checking his website, and there's also information there on how to contact him directly. This could be a good opportunity for a service project for either individual Scouts or Scout troops.

I'm trying to inform other Scout units and Order of the Arrow lodges about Zach and this service project opportunity if I can find email addresses for them, but I would appreciate it if you could also pass this information on to other Scout leaders and units in your area.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Update: Due to rain, the event has been rescheduled for January 15, 2011. Everyone who has made a reservation will still be on the list for that day unless we are otherwise informed.

Thank you to everyone that made our BSA youth day at the range on August 21, 2010 so successful. Our volunteers enjoyed every minute of the day with the Scouts as well. We thank you all for your patience and participation last Saturday, as it was a hot and jammed packed day. As many of you who were there know, the crowd was very big. We had more than 150 Scouts from more than 18 different Troops.

In order to help make the next scheduled Panorama / BSA / NRA day on December 18th, 2010 even better, I would like to encourage those adults and Scoutmasters to forward comments and suggestions to me at mfcohen@sbcglobal.net. We will be doing our part to continue to make these shooting days better and better. As participation in this event has been growing at such a fast rate, increasing by at least 1/3 each time, we will be having more instructors and counselors there.

If any of the people who were there taking pictures would be kind enough to email them to me at the above address, I would appreciate that as well.

The family of long time Scouting member and advocate Velma Horvath sadly announce her passing last week. Her most beloved memories were of Wood Badge, helping numerous young scouts achieve their Ad Altari Dei ribbon, her son Ken's rise through the Scouting ranks to Eagle Scout, her daughters Annette and Michele's accomplishments in Explorer/Venturing Scouts, and her support for her husband Bill's accomplishments such as Acting District Commissioner. She was awarded the St. George Medal and Silver Beaver for her tireless support of Scouting and her Scouting legacy lives on through her children and grandchildren.

Donations in Velma's remembrance may be made to The Boy Scouts of America or The American Cancer Society.

Sign up after services or at the Parish Office.
For more information contact Manny Gallegos at (818) 257-1762 or manuelng@att.net

If you have been told previously by the American Red Cross or another blood center that you should never donate blood, please disregard this message. If you recently made a blood donation, or if you have already scheduled an appointment to donate blood, please accept our thanks on behalf of the patients whose lives you may have touched. You may not give blood if you have received a Red Cross notification asking you not to do so.

Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), meet weight and height requirements (110 pounds or more, depending on their height) and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. Please bring your Red Cross blood donor card or other form of positive ID when you come to donate.

Let us know you'd like to contribute to a gift for Derek (from the volunteers)

Let us know you'd like to participate in the dinner program

Can't make it, but want to wish Derek well anyway? Cards and letters in sealed envelopes may be mailed to or dropped off in any of our service centers. They will be collected and delivered to Derek at the party.

This event is open to all family members - come out and take part in this fair. Booths will include topics on health, illness prevention, nutrition, and exercise. Booths on earthquake preparedness will be set up to help prepare our homes for earthquakes. For those that can, please donate your blood - those who donate will get an AMC movie ticket.

Requirements for blood donation: You must be 17 (or 16 with parent consent), and you must be at least 110 pounds. We are required to have 40 people donate, but my goal is 100 people. Please sign-up today.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout can earn.